The Ground Is Getting Soft Under Housing

Even the Fed cut may not be enough to put housing on its feet

Dean Foust

January 15, 2001, 12:00 AM EST

Over the past few years, the next best thing to holding shares in an Internet highflier was owning a home in one of the nation's hot real estate markets. In Silicon Valley, tales abound of Internet tycoons offering homeowners $1 million in cash. In Chicago, developers like David W. "Buzz" Ruttenberg, president of Belgravia Group Ltd., recall seeing 70-year-old grandparents buying high-rise condo units under construction--only to flip them for a quick profit. And in Austin, Tex., agent Sandy Goodwin surprised even herself last summer when she sold a home for $50,000 above the owners' $180,000 asking price.

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